Don’t Cry For Me By Daniel Black (A Book Review)

Jacob Swinton’s life is coming to a close. He is met with a sense of urgency to write to his son Isaac. He shares his life’s story through a series of letters. The letters; part revelation, part remorse, detail Jacob’s upbringing, his marriage, his divorce, and his beliefs on manhood, etc.

Jacob’s view on life and manhood is challenged when his son Isaac is born. Isaac, an expressive child bubbling over with feelings, did not enter the world in typical male fashion. This serves as the catalyst for the complexities that make up he and his father’s relationship.

Jacob’s letters shed light into the intergenerational divide of societal norms that is so deep between father and son. Although vestiges of growth is apparent in the letters, it struggles against his innate inability to have a demonstrative love towards his son. He is a flawed man ridden with inner conflict that is true to men of a particular generation. 

What I appreciated most about Don’t Cry For Me is the authenticity. It shed light on the less than ideal reality of some family relationships.

*****Some insightful and poignant quotes from the book:

November 27th, 2003 chapter
“If you still don’t understand why I’m telling you all this, just keep reading. A man’s history is all he has. It says more than his mouth ever will. You’ll see what I mean soon enough. ” ~Jacob

November 28th, 2003 chapter
“I stood there wondering how this had happened to me, thinking of all the things I’d do differently  if I could live again. It was useless thinking,  if course. Nothing was about to change. Not for me. There are no do-overs in this life. Either you get it right or wish you had.”~ Jacob

December 24th, 2003 chapter
I always called you boy. When a father calls a boy son, he’s declaring his pride in him. I didn’t feel this way about you, even when you got grown.~Jacob

January 17th, 2004 chapter
The more I read, the more I saw myself. Knowledge is a funny thing, Isaac. It informs by exposing. It shows you precisely how much you don’t know.~Jacob

January 26th, 2003 chapter
Silence isn’t always quiet though. It troubles a man’s soul, forcing him to admit what he’d rather forget.~ Jacob

February 5th, 2004 chapter
Reading taught me that a man’s own life is his own responsibility, his own creation. Blaming others is a waste of time. No one can make you happy if you’re determined to be miserable.

All I wanted was to look you in the face and tell you I’m sorry. I had wounded you beyond my capacity to heal you.

Love doesn’t make us perfect; it makes us, want to be. By the time you discover this, your imperfections have done their damage.

February 8th, 2004 chapter
A man’s son is his truth unadorned. When he can look at him and be proud, his fatherhood is complete.

February 10th, 2004
You must learn to uproot unwanted seeds without destroying the entire harvest.

Rating 10/10

The Mother Of Black Hollywood: A Memoir By Jenifer Lewis (A Book Review)

“Artists are quickly labeled, and my label was “force of nature”. ~ Jenifer Lewis

Jenifer Lewis recounts her life to bring us a funny, insightful, and rich memoir. From her humble beginnings in Kinloch, Missouri to Broadway to Hollywood, Jenifer’s life was filled with crushing lows and equally exhilarating highs. She bares her soul in the most raw and truthful fashion as only she can. From sex addiction, a bipolar disorder diagnosis, to spiritual exploration, Jenifer owns her life boldly and unapologetically. Through it all, she comes full circle to find serenity and balance to live a rewarding life that commands the label “force of nature” in the most glorious and happy existence that shines through the pages.

I laughed out loud often (especially about a song that came from a camel ride), yet I gleaned many gems from Jenifer’s story. To see the beginning to the end and everything in between, was a lesson. Jenifer shows us what fighting for one’s own happiness looks like. Though difficult at times, she pushed through to get out of destructive cycles to get to her happiness. As if the retelling of her life wasn’t powerful enough, she wrote a letter to the reader at the end of the book. I really enjoyed that. It was the perfect end to sum it all up. I found myself reading it more than once and soaked up as much as I could. Great book.

Cool Quotes From Book

“Your playing small does not serve the world. Who are you not to be great?”~ Nelson Mandela

“There’s no greater journey, than the journey within.” ~ Beverly Heath

“The fact is many parents don’t or can’t give you everything you need. Mine couldn’t.  So, I went in search of substitutes. I often advise young people in this situation to understand there are probably people around every corner who will take them under their wing and help them on their way. But you have to ask.”~Jenifer Lewis

“If you can dream it, you can make it happen.”~ Shirley MacLaine

“Your landscapes are vast”~ Shirley MacLaine

“I’ve learned in life that what you give to others is what provides the most value to your life.”~Jenifer Lewis

“When you are not at your best, surround yourself with good people.”~ Jenifer Lewis

“You have to slow your roll; give yourself quiet time and stop to smell the roses, thorns, and all.”~ Jenifer Lewis

Rating 10/10  

Andre 3000’s New Blue Sun

3 Stacks released a new album after quite some time on Friday 11/17/23. Many people aren’t here for it to say the least. Black Twitter especially is eating this alive. I really don’t want to laugh but some of these comments are laugh out loud funny. Many die hard Outkast fans are vicious with the comments. All laughs aside though, I don’t share the same sentiments. First off, music is near and dear to my heart. My musical tastes span far and wide, always have. I listen to many genres, it just depends on what I’m feeling in the moment. On any given day, I can listen to classical, jazz, ambient or space music, and back around again to gospel, zydeco, and southern soul. You get the picture.

What Andre 3000 put out in the world with this album is both new and not so new. Musicians and artists in general have done what he is doing with this album for eons and centuries; experimenting, exploring, and embracing where they are in their art’s and life’s journey. This is a time stamp in his life, I’m sure, and he chose to contribute it to the world. It’s the beginning of something and even more so, the evolution of something much bigger.

It’s avant-garde and frankly ahead of its time for a “hip hop” artist. Art is expansive, free. It is not intended to be held, stifled, or caged in a box. Blue New Sun is the epitome of the very thing art is meant to be. So many artists before him have traveled this very road, Dizzy Gillespie, Lonnie Liston Smith, Miles Davis, Earth Wind & Fire, Jimi Hendrix, and George Clinton and Parliament and that’s just a few. All have branched out of their respective boxes to bring us all sheer ecstasy in music. True music lovers and the world at large are the better for it.

Our taste in art and music is subjective, yes. Everyone is entitled to their preferences and tastes. Not everything is for everybody. But when artists chooses to walk in the freedom of being authentic and have the bravery to deliver it to the universe, those who it’s meant to touch, it’ll touch. More importantly, the contribution will be magical and simply a blessing to the world at large.

Holler, Child by Latoya Watkins (A Book Review)

Eleven powerfully rich stories are the building blocks that compile this masterpiece.

In “Cutting Horse”, a story set against the backdrop of the recent police killings towards black citizens, introduces us to a former drug dealer/ horse breeder who gave up life as he knew it for his college educated wife. Although, he got a piece of the American dream for himself and his family as a homeowner in a HOA community, his free spirit is chained and stifled. When a horse breaks loose and stumbles onto his property, he and the horse connect, and he is reminded of the inner freedom he tucked away so long ago.

Highlighted quote: “Black boys need two things, a man to help form them and something they could look away to.”

In “Sweat”, a woman’s resentment of her husband’s existence grew to epic proportions one evening.

Highlighted quote: “He always choosing the wrong damn thing”.

In “Everything’s Fine”, a young pastor openly expresses his displeasure in his wife’s downward spiral. He ends his diatribe of disappointment in her by entertaining thoughts of a separation. She in turn blames him for ruining her life. She blames her biological daughter for her sudden hate of children. All this juxtaposed with the outward display of her seemingly gracious service of being a foster mother. She silently seeks retribution in the most sinister way.

Highlighted quote: “God make folks just the way he want them.”

Highlighted quote: “Makeup couldn’t cover the ruin of her life.”

This collection of stories blew me away. I often had to sit in a reflective state after reading. Judgement is turned inside out as the characters present the depths of their reality. Watkins knows how to get to the heart of a matter and arrest the reader and make us invested in what is being shared.

Watkins is a fearless writer who reached down in the crevices of the human experience to extract choices, pain, regret, sorrow, and trauma and fine-tuned it to create literary gold.

I am in awe of her stories and looking forward to reading more from her. She is a force to be reckoned with in the literary world for sure. Now, I must back track and check out her debut novel, Perish.

Rating: 10/10